AMERICAS: New Video and Print Resources for Teaching About Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Comparative studies scholars have long been frustrated by an inability to communicate adequately the full range of insights about the regions they study. AMERICAS was developed to fill the need for a balanced, up-to-date examination of the complexity, the commitment, the individual and collective action, and the sights and sounds of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. The intention behind the series and accompanying books is to provide background and expert analysis of the inherent tensions, challenges, opportunities, and innovations of a region in transition. AMERICAS also takes advantage of the immediacy of television to offer a visually striking series that will give students new images, knowledge, and a fresh perspective on the region. Now that the Cold War is over, the United States and Latin America have initiated a new, more positive relationship for the 1990s. Throughout the United States, states and municipalities are looking to Latin America with renewed interest and hope, considering its potential as a key trading partner. Who are the people that make up the 33 sovereign states of Latin America and the Caribbean? How can we help students understand the issues that emerge from this region when it is considered as a whole? AMERICAS, a 10-part television series and telecourse, is designed as a comprehensive survey of Latin America and the Caribbean. Combining prime-time production values with a new interpretation of the contemporary politics, culture, history, economics, religion, and social structure of the region, AMERICAS has been developed by some of the United States's leading Latin Americanists in collaboration with award-winning public television producers. The series and telecourse will be of special interest to political scientists who teach comparative politics and/or Latin American politics, Latin America's international relations, and development. It includes ten television programs which contain original footage from television crews working throughout the Americas. Four of the video programs have direct relevance to politics courses, examining critical concepts such as development and national identity, regime transformation, traditional and new challenges to sovereignty, and the national and international dimensions of revolution.